Dinner, a Movie, and Redenned Cheeks
by Aechigo
Summary: Re-write of How It Should Be. Jerlita
1. Step One: Ask Him Out

**A/N: Hello my friends! So, if you haven't noticed, "How It Should Be" is a piece of craptastic junk. So, my mission is to completely re-write it. I actually have it finished, on paper, from the first time around. But, of course, that sucks. A lot. I hope to actually complete it this time. New title, new vocab, new grammar, same basic plot, but a whole lot better. Enjoy :3**

It was an average day for the Lyoko team; a XANA attack at high noon, no surprise. Jeremie typed away at the keyboard as he watched the little yellow triangles that were his best friends on the supercomputer screen alertly. "Odd, you only have ten life points left; be careful!" he warned, despite his knowledge of Odd's tendencies to blow off his premonitions. "Don't sweat, Einstein!" Odd sing-songed, blowing off Jeremie's advice just as he'd expected. "Yumi, you get Aelita to the tower; I'll hold off these bloks." Ulrich directed. They'd been surrounded, but there were few enough for Ulrich to defeat on his own if Odd played another one of his stupid tricks and got himself devirtualized again. Yumi nodded and turned towards Aelita, who had already taken off towards the tower, almost halfway there. Luckily, there were no monsters chasing her. Not her smartest move, but not her stupidest. Yumi followed just in case. Aelita reached the tower in time, a blok deciding to crawl after them. She rose up into the tower gracefully, as she always did. She lifted her hand to be scanned. 'Code:' appeared onto the screen. 'LYOKO,' Aelita entered, thus deactivating the tower and foiling XANA's plans once again. "Tower deactivated," she announced to no one in particular, sounding almost pleased with herself. Back on Earth, Jeremie noticed the tower's deactivation and initialized a return to the past, returning things exactly to the way they were before the attack; Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich back in Mrs. Hertz's science room, Yumi back in her seat next to William in Italian.

A few seconds passed before the school bell rung angrily at the anxiously awaiting students. Luckily, the return to the past had returned them to the end of the day. Students left in an excited rush, a river streaming out the door, ready to start their weekend. Aelita, on the other hand, stayed behind for a moment. Jeremie decided it best to wait for Aelita outside the classroom. A few moments later, his pink-haired friend strolled out, at first unaware of his presence. "Oh, hey Jeremie," she smiled, "You didn't have to wait on me, you know." Jeremie shrugged. "I wanted to," he offered, genuinely. "Alright, then," she giggled slightly, "Thanks."

"You don't have to thank me," he said, his cheeks tinting slightly pink. She smiled again. "Okay then…" A moment of silence. He looked at her curiously. "Hey, Jeremie?" she cocked her head. "Yeah?" he responded, unaware of Aelita's thought process. "So, I was talking to Yumi and, um…" she began to stammer, "She, uh, she said I should ask you on a date." Aelita blushed, as she averted her gaze. Jeremie was caught off guard. His large brain was being slightly dysfunctional at the moment; at first he thought he'd heard her wrong. "Yumi… told you to…?" he stammered, blushing madly, unable to complete his sentence. '_Ask me out?_' he would've said, simply for confirmation, had he been able to. But he wasn't quite able to choke it out. "Well… yeah…" Aelita confirmed, now slightly unsure of herself. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything after all…

"Oh." Jeremie reddened some more. Aelita simply stared at him. "Oh?" she repeated, questioningly; her heart sinking inside her chest. Was this Jeremie's nice way of saying he wasn't interested? "I, uh…" Jeremie began, unsure how to react, "I- I mean… If that's what you want…" he blushed more than Aelita had originally thought possible, trying not to sound as painfully eager as he was. Aelita studied him carefully. "I wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't…" she murmured. "Um… alright, then…" Jeremie agreed quietly.

They hadn't quite realized it, but a sufficient amount of time had passed since school had ended. Aelita glanced around and noticed the lack of students in the nearly silent hallways. "Maybe we should get going…" she suggested. Jeremie simply nodded. "Perhaps." He concurred.

Aelita's legs felt kind of rubbery, but she was sure she could just walk it off. Her insides vibrated happily; she'd done it. Exactly what she'd set out to do. She felt triumphant, and almost smug. She and Jeremie hadn't necessarily planned anything yet, but it was going to happen, and she could feel it in her bones that this was a night that neither of them would ever forget.

**A/N: It's not significantly longer, but it is a bit more so than the original chapter. This was almost prologue-ish… Blah. My old writing infuriates me, really. I want to hit my younger self over the head with the folder I kept all my old stories in, which is pretty heavy. It would hurt, at least. All the crap I dared call "fluff" from before should be burned. This is more of a mission to prove to myself that I have in fact improved, but it's painfully obvious due to all the criticism I'm dishing out.**

**Anywho, I'm gonna try to combine some chapters or something to make them longer, if I can. The thing is that my chapters are significantly different therefore I have logic in separating them where I did. They're just… painfully short. That's all I can say, really. Okay, I'll let y'all get on with your lives now. Bai bai.**

**~Aechigo**


	2. Step Two: Set a Date

**A/N: Sorry for the huge gap between chapters. This is actually almost a challenge. Making the previous story readable, that is. Anyway, I shan't keep you any longer-**

Jeremie and Aelita made their way back to Jeremie's room for some well-deserved comfort and privacy.

"So, uh…" Jeremie began awkwardly. Aelita smiled. Jeremie was almost adorable when he was shy.

"Shall we talk about our date then?" Aelita suggested.

"Um, that sounds alright," Jeremie blushed. This whole experience felt like a dream to him. He was sure any moment he would wake up to the harsh reality that was normalcy.

"Hang on, first, Aelita, I'm just, um, curious, but… who was it that told you what a _date_ was, exactly?" Jeremie was suspicious and decided he wasn't going to risk a chance a humiliation. After all, if it had been Odd who explained to Aelita what a date was…

"Yumi, why?" Aelita cocked her head curiously.

"No reason," Jeremie lied. "So when were you thinking our, um, date, would be?" he asked, his face reddening again. Aelita giggled a little. Okay, so almost adorable was an understatement. It was actually pretty darn cute when Jeremie was so shy.

"I don't know. Are you sure you can squeeze me into your schedule?" Aelita teased. Jeremie smiled.

"Alright, just for that, I'm picking the day," he teased, suddenly slightly confident. "How do you feel about Friday? Maybe around seven? We can go see a movie or something, my treat."

"Are you sure?" Aelita bit her lip. Yumi told her to "make him pay," but Aelita felt bad taking Jeremie's money.

"I'm positive," Jeremie confirmed, giving her a warm half smile.

"Well, alright then," Aelita grinned back. She glanced at the clock on Jeremie's night stand, which notified her it was almost eight o'clock and that perhaps she should make her way to her own dorm.

"Jeremie, it's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Alright," he allowed. He watched Aelita leave. She had been glowing the whole time, he'd noticed, and her glow had started to fade slightly as she left. It was tragic, and it made Jeremie feel oddly guilty. She smiled almost glumly and closed the door, leaving a mesmerized Jeremie behind.

Jeremie's head hummed with thoughts and memories of the previous hours and fantasies of what could become of Friday. He wondered how long Aelita had thought of him as more than a friend, and perhaps how he hadn't noticed sooner. He thought about how happy he was, how nervous he was… His mind danced with Aelita until he drifted soundly to sleep; the first good night's sleep he'd had in a long time…

**A/N: Hum… Well, it's better. XD**

**And I finally updated and such. Woo.**

**So tell me what you think, please.**

**R&R**


	3. Step Three: Tell Yumi

**A/N: Originally, I had Jeremie being all, "OMFGBANANAPEEL!" in a phone call to Ulrich, whom he then realizes is Odd. Well, looking back I realize how horribly out of character this is, and feel that I need to correct this error by removing the old chapter three.**

"But then I realized that it was basically curfew," Aelita gushed to Yumi, "so I told him I had to go- I didn't really want to, of course." Aelita had called Yumi to tell her how things went immediately after she closed the door to her dorm.

"I'm really happy for you!" Yumi praised. "So will you need help getting ready tomorrow?" Yumi offered. It had just occurred to Aelita that today was, in fact, Thursday.

"That'd be very nice of you, Yumi!" Aelita grinned, though Yumi couldn't see. "I mean, I'm kind of, well, clueless," she admitted.

"Well, that's why I'm here," Yumi reassured her. "So, I'll be over around 4:30, then?" she offered.

"Sounds perfect," Aelita accepted.

"Awesome. Now get some beauty rest; you'll need to look prettier than usual for your date tomorrow!" Yumi instructed.

"Yes, ma'am," Aelita giggled. "'Night, Yumi."

"'Night, Aelita" Yumi dismissed, before the girls hung up simultaneously.

Aelita's head swarmed with thoughts of Jeremie. She pictured him blushing at the silliest little things, which he always did. She wondered if he would hold her hand in the movie tomorrow, or if she was going to have to "girl up" and grab his herself. She pictured herself with her head on Jeremie's shoulder; he'd look down at her, blushing, and their lips would slowly meet…

Aelita told herself she was getting ahead of herself. For all she knew, XANA could interrupt their date. Oh, she hoped not. She resented the idea with every fiber of her being. Tomorrow night had to go perfectly- it just _had_ too…

As much as she would've loved to obey the wise Yumi's orders to sleep, she simply couldn't. She imagined the million different spirals their date could take, both the good and the bad. Eventually, when she finally got to sleep, she found herself dreaming of yet another way her date with Jeremie could turn out…

**A/N: Yeahhhh… This could've been better too. So don't hate me for killing Odd's intense teasing at Jeremie's expense… We'll see how we can work that in later.**

**Two chapters in a day because I'm currently inspired (and by "inspired" I mean brain-dead to any other original ideas I could possibly concoct) and these chapters are SO FREAKING SHORT. D:**

**I hereby acknowledge this fact and feel I'm doomed to a life of short chapters.**

**Also, in the old version, for some reason I decided it was cooler to type all of my chapters in bold print and kill your eyes…? Yeahh, no clue.**

**Well,**

**R&R Please. C:**


	4. Step Four: Survive School

**A/N: Wow, you guys probably hate me by now XD**

**Sorry for basically abandoning the fandom. I get random fits off and on, and now that I've returned to school I've got a lot more on my plate, especially since I spend most of my free time shooting (as in pictures, not guns XD). BUT YEAH. –brick'd-**

Jeremie and Aelita had previously agreed to work together on their science project the next morning in the school's library. When they saw each other their faces lit up, both of them flushing crimson. They greeted each other sheepishly, and soon set out to work on their project.

As it turned out, they had allowed themselves more than enough time to complete it, because by the time they were done, they still had around fifteen minutes left to kill until the first bell rang.

"Would you like to take a walk before class starts?" Aelita suggested. Butterflies were batting around in her stomach like mad, and her cheeks still felt hot. It had never been like this before between them, and Aelita knew it was something she wanted to get used to.

"Alright," Jeremie agreed, also blushing slightly. They packed their belongings into their backpacks and soon left the library, fingers laced together.

The hallways were deserted other than the occasional teacher who was too busy to even bother glancing over at the couple as they roamed. Eventually they decided to stop by the alcove that lead to the hallway in front of the mess hall.

A silence had fallen over them, and it had really begun to get to Aelita. She decided that it was time to break it, but how?

"Jeremie?" she called his name in an attempt at receiving his attention.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"For what?" Jeremie questioned, confused.

"For saving me. I… I don't know if I ever really thanked you, officially."

"You don't need to thank me," Jeremie blushed. "But I'm very glad I did. Otherwise, I wouldn't have you here standing with me right now," he smiled. Aelita smiled back, now sure she was smitten. Jeremie's lips caressed her cheek lightly. Aelita reddened, bringing her hand up to where he had kissed her. Jeremie placed his hand gently over hers. They simply smiled at each other. Aelita was sure that confronting Jeremie was by far the best thing she had ever done.

As if on cue, none other than Odd strolled around the corner, quickly spotting Kadic Academy's newest pair of lovebirds.

"Go Einstein!" Odd cheered just before Ulrich rounded the corner as well, nearly slamming into him. Jeremie and Aelita both blushed madly and immediately separated.

"Come on, Odd, leave 'em alone," Ulrich frowned. Odd was grinning stupidly at his friends, but decided to listen to the mess hall, which had been calling his name for the past hour.

"Later Mr. and Mrs. Einstein!" Odd called cheerfully before strolling past them.

After Odd and Ulrich were out of sight, Jeremie pulled Aelita close once more, and kissed her forehead gently.

"I think it's about time we get ready for class," he murmured. Aelita nodded as the space grew again between them. Aelita hated the rush of cold air that came as he retreated, and grabbed his hand once more as they made their way to their first class.

A/N: I really hate little middle school me. XD

**I was such a horrible author back then. –shot-**

**Also, my S key is sticking. -.-**

**OH WELL. R&R if you care. :D**


	5. Step Five: Getting Ready

**A/N: Whoa, what is this? She's actually updating?**

**Crazy, right?**

**I'll bet all of you guys hate me by now. XD I know I've already received one death threat. Lmbo**

**In any case, I'd like to say that I've got two weeks left of junior year (woo!) then it's summer. Why is this significant? Because fanfiction is a summer sport, silly goose. So hopefully that means more frequent updates from yours truly.**

**Oh, and also, a random fun fact: In the original eighth chapter (dang, **_**eighth chapter? **_**o_o This is only chapter five. XD) I said Jeremie had a 99.7 grade point average. Considering GPA only goes up to a 4.0 (unless you include AP classes, then it's probably like 5.0), Jeremie REALLY must be a freaking genius! XD**

**Anyway, story now. I've made you wait long enough. O:**

For Jeremie and Aelita, school felt even more dull and boring than usual as they daydreamed about their date later that evening, but eventually the school day _did _end. Jeremie and Aelita said a shy goodbye before Aelita scurried back to her dorm in anticipation of Yumi's arrival. Aelita didn't have to wait long; Yumi was a little bit earlier than she'd expected her to be.

Yumi entered without any warning other than sing-songing, "knock, knock!" as she walked through the door.

"Hey Yumi," Aelita smiled. She then noticed the bag that was slung over Yumi's shoulder. "What's that?" she asked curiously, gesturing to the satchel.

Yumi responded by emptying the contents onto her bed. Out fell various types of makeup, a strange device that looked like nothing Aelita had ever seen before, and a pile of clothes that looked very un-Yumi, even just by glancing at them in their current piled-up state.

Yumi took a moment to look over the disarray before she gave it an approving nod. She then went for the small pile of clothing, first picking up a pleated black skirt with burgundy and light pink plaid. Aelita cocked her head as Yumi held it up to her.

"You like it? I bet Jeremie will," Yumi beamed. Aelita nodded. It _was_ rather cute.

"Won't it be a little chilly, though?" Aelita asked, slightly concerned. It was December, and this skirt fell slightly below the middle of her thigh.

"Trust me, Aelita, if you get a little chilly it'll be worth it," Yumi smirked almost deviously. Aelita was confused, but went along with it anyway- after all, Yumi knows best.

Yumi handed her a short-sleeved, light pink shirt to match, then simply turned her back as Aelita changed. Aelita looked down at the clothes that now covered her body. Well, slightly covered it. Used to her usual long-sleeved jumper and high-rising boots, Aelita felt rather exposed. The skirt felt kind of short, and the top definitely felt oddly low, but she figured she could bear it for one evening, if it meant making Jeremie happy.

"You look hot!" Yumi complimented.

"I _feel_ cold," Aelita said as she rubbed her exposed arms.

"Oh, just wear your jacket, you'll be fine," Yumi patronized, tossing Aelita's burgundy jacket at her. Aelita caught it and shrugged it on quickly, happy to be warm again.

Yumi plugged the strange device into the wall.

"What's that?" Aelita asked warily.

"It's just a straightener, relax," Yumi chortled slightly. "You'll see."

Aelita decided to let it go for now and worry about it later. Yumi now sat her down on her bed next to the remaining mess that had poured from her back minutes ago. Aelita glanced over the pile curiously, then at Yumi. Yumi hardly wore makeup, and Aelita was honestly starting to wonder if she should trust her with it. Then again, Aelita had never really done her own makeup, therefore Yumi was clearly the better candidate. Yumi then instructed her to close her eyes, and she obeyed.

She heard the click of what Aelita to be a compact of sorts opening, then she felt a strange tickling sensation on her eyelids. She jerked away reflexively, before Yumi per her hand on Aelita's shoulder and lightly pulled her back, and consoled her before trying again. Aelita tried her best to relax as Yumi brushed a silky-feeling substance on her eyelids.

Yumi then rustled through her mess and pulled out a black tube. Aelita opened her eyes in time to see her unscrew the cap to reveal a brush with black goop on it. Aelita flinched involuntarily. Aelita continued to jerk away as Yumi attempted to apply the mascara to Aelita's eyelashes. Yumi then pulled out another tube that proved to be significantly less horrible, as she applied a sticky-feeling pink gloss to Aelita's lips.

Yumi pulled back, and Aelita was relieved that Yumi seemed to be done with her face. Yumi dug a mirror out of her mess, and allowed Aelita to see her reflection. In the scratched glass, Aelita saw that Yumi had applied light pink eye shadow, and translucent pink gloss to her lips.

Yumi then slipped away and returned with the device she'd called a 'straightener.' Yumi picked up a piece of Aelita's hair and clamped it between the two hot plates and slowly moved the straightener down Aelita's hair. Aelita lightly touched the lock Yumi had just straightened; it felt warm. Yumi told her to keep her hands away, and continued working on Aelita's hair for a few more minutes.

Aelita had a hard time sitting still as she anticipated the later events of the evening. She pictured herself walking hand-in-hand with Jeremie to the theater, leaning against him as they watched the movie… maybe he;d even kiss her.

"All finished," Yumi said approvingly, distracting Aelita from her fantasies.

"Thanks so much, Yumi," Aelita beamed.

"Wait! I almost forgot-" Yumi said abruptly before diving toward her mess once more. She grabbed a bottle of perfume– Love Me by Victoria's Secret, Aelita noticed- and spritzed Aelita a few times, and herself once.

"Okay, _now_ you're ready," Yumi grinned. Aelita gave Yumi a quick hug.

"Thanks again," Aelita beamed. Yumi's response was interrupted by a knock on the door. She glanced at the clock, noticing that it was, in fact, about five o'clock. Aelita took a deep breath, then looked at Yumi for a reassuring glance. Yumi smiled again and gestured for Aelita to open the door.

As Jeremie's eyes fell on Aelita, his jaw almost fell open, and his face grew red.

"Wow…" was all Jeremie could say for at least thirty seconds before he added, "You look great."

Aelita blushed as she tugged down on her skirt, suddenly aware of her bare legs and half-exposed chest once more, but accepted his compliment humbly.

"Should we get going then?" Aelita asked, grabbing her dorm key off of her nightstand, slipping it into her jacket pocket. Jeremie nodded. Aelita gave a slight wave to Yumi, who Jeremie hadn't noticed until that very moment, and headed out the door.

A/N: Well… It's not amazing, but it's better I suppose. Like I said, more frequent updates now, hopefully. So yeah, let's not hate Ashlea, right? XD

Reviews are amazing, as always. Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. O:  
I've been trying my hardest to make my chapters longer guys, really! Lulz

**Love you guys! :D**


	6. Step Six: Dinner

A/N: Woooow… My old chapter 10 (which, due to my chapter combining is now chapter 6) was SO freaking out of character… Just wow. Anyway, I think that, despite the fact that that may have been a cute chapter (disregarding the improper grammar and punctuation), I'm just going to create their walk to dinner from scratch, since that seems the most reasonable option. Anyway, I've kept you waiting long enough. o:

As Jeremie and Aelita walked out of Kadic a somewhat awkward silence fell over the two of them.

"So, um, where were you thinking about going to eat?" Aelita asked, feeling slightly nervous. She knew that Jeremie liked her, but what if she messed up or said something wrong?

"I was thinking about Azzaro's actually… I know you like Italian," Jeremie blushed. Jeremie had been worrying silently to himself all day, but his heart was really hammering now. He'd liked Aelita ever since he'd first seen her, and now she magically had feelings for him as well. He was Jeremie Belpois- he was never that lucky.

"That I do," Aelita smiled. She began to relax a bit more, now that she at least knew what was going to happen next. She'd decided to take this one step at a time.

Jeremie, on the other hand, still seemed nervous. He walked with his hands in his pockets, occasionally risking shy glances at Aelita's face.

The walk to the restaurant was short, and things got a bit less awkward once they were seated.

Azzaro's was mainly a pizza place, and its décor was definitely not that of a five-star restaurant, but Jeremie and Aelita didn't mind. The tablecloths were checkered red and white, the walls were painted dark Italian green, and the waiter delivered their drinks in those clear plastic glasses. The couple sipped their soft drinks through their cheap plastic straws as they waited for their food to arrive.

Jeremie used his straw to stir around the ice in his Pepsi, and Aelita simply listened to the swishing sound it made. She knew Jeremie was still nervous, so she'd decided that it was time to girl up and make the first move.

"Thank you for going out with me tonight," Aelita thanked him. "It honestly means a lot to me." Aelita blushed slightly. Jeremie, on the other hand, turned even pinker.

"It's my pleasure," he assured her. "There's no one I'd rather share my first date with," he admitted.

Aelita leaned forward on her elbows and rested her head in her hands.

"You've never been on a date before?" Aelita asked, somewhat surprised.

"No," Jeremie shook his head. "Most girls know better than to take interest in me," he added with a slight hint of a smile.

Aelita stared for a moment before responding.

"Well they don't know what they're missing," she grinned. He blushed some more.

"I'm not so sure about that," Jeremie shrugged modestly, seconds before the waiter came back and sat a steaming cheese pizza in front of them, asked if they needed anything else, then scurried away to the next table filled with hungry customers. Jeremie and Aelita both took a slice of pizza.

"This is amazing," Aelita smiled as she bit into her food.

"Glad you like it," Jeremie said before biting into his own slice. Aelita nodded enthusiastically.

"Every once in a while when I was a kid my dad would take me here for a treat. Usually it was after he'd returned from some important meeting that kept him away from me for a week straight." Jeremie stared at the slice of pizza before him, remembering. Aelita cocked her head.

"What does he do?" she asked curiously.

"He's an executive for a large company. The pay is good, but he has to spend a lot of time away from home. So he missed a lot of stuff when I was growing up, but just science fairs and stuff… not something he'd want to go to anyway."

Aelita could tell there was something wrong about the way he talked of his father. She decided she'd pried enough for one night and to leave it alone, so she didn't make him sad on their first date.

"Well I'm sure your time together was much more special, then. And especially with this pizza," she added, in an attempt to brighten the mood. It worked: Jeremie smiled.

They continued their meal with much lighter conversation afterwards. They finished up in a timely fashion, Jeremie paid (which still made Aelita uncomfortable), and they set off to the local cinema to catch their movie.

**A/N: Oh look, is that a longer chapter I see? Maybe. And it's a lot less cheesy too. So yay. :D  
Review if you care.**


	7. Step Seven: A Movie

A/N: Well hello there, readers. The few of you that are left. o.o

**Um, well, this is going to cover pretty much the rest of the chapters that were covered by the previous version of this story, soooo only progress from here! :D**

**So here goes nothing.**

The movie theater and the restaurant were relatively close together, therefore the walk was short. Aelita tugged down on her shirt, which still felt very short as it brushed against her thighs. Jeremie glanced over and his face reddened. Aelita blushed, feeling insecure.

She allowed her hand to swing by her side and brush against his. His hand jerked away slightly, thinking it was an accident. Aelita tried again though; this time she linked their pinkies together. Jeremie glanced at her shyly. Aelita gave him a reassuring smile, and he laced their fingers together. She gave his hand a squeeze.

Just as they arrived at the theater, it began to flurry. Jeremie and Aelita stood inside and watched as it began to snow harder.

"Looks like we made it just in time," Jeremie observed. Aelita nodded in agreement.

She glanced around the theater, absorbing it for the first time. The walls were a deep purple, the floors gray tile. There was a very short line at the ticket counter, but the waiting area was slightly crowded. She examined the high ceiling, and noticed that directly above her and Jeremie's heads was mistletoe.

"Um, Jeremie…" Aelita blushed, pointing up towards the festive Christmas plant with her tiny finger.

Jeremie glimpsed at the decoration and his face flushed red.

"A-Aelita, if you don't want… I mean…" Jeremie stammered.

Aelita simply gave him a small smile and leaned in so their lips met. Jeremie instantly froze, and Aelita pulled back, fearing she'd done the wrong thing.

Jeremie took a deep breath and leaned in again. This time his lips moved against hers softly; Aelita was thrilled with their warmth and movement across her own. Jeremie pulled back, seemingly impressed with himself, cheeks stained pink.

"Um, we should probably… go get our tickets now…" Jeremie pointed out. Aelita nodded with a giggle.

Jeremie ordered and paid for the tickets, then led Aelita into the waiting area. It wasn't long before a shrill voice broke through the murmur of the crowd, to their dismay.

"Einstein! Princess!"

Jeremie and Aelita both internally flinched. The date had been going pretty well; they didn't need Odd to ruin it.

Odd sauntered his way over, dragging a redhead along by the hand, and none other than Yumi and Ulrich following afterward, looking annoyed.

"Man, you'll run into anyone around here, eh?" Odd asked excitedly. The ginger on his arm giggled.

"And who's this?" Aelita asked politely.

"This is Holly," Odd responded gleefully, giving Holly a wink.

"My new next door neighbor," Yumi added, wondering to herself what Holly saw in her strange friend.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you," Aelita said kindly. Holly smiled and concurred politely.

While Odd waited impatiently for his new girl to be properly introduced to his friends, Yumi and Ulrich made their escape. Aelita noticed and stifled a giggle. Jeremie, on the other hand, was too busy waiting on Odd to form a witty remark about his date with Aelita to notice their disappearance.

"Sooo, how are things going for you two lovebirds? Did you notice the mistletoe out front?" Odd said with a wink.

"Look, Odd, we really have to get going our movie-"

"Yeah, yeah. Hey- don't have too much fun in there you two!" Odd added gleefully before turning and walking away.

"Run." Jeremie advised, as he and Aelita turned quickly, making a break for it before Odd could change his mind and turn back.

Jeremie and Aelita settled into the theater , happy to be alone again. Aelita settled into Jeremie during the movie, leaning her head on his shoulder, and holding his hand. Jeremie finally seemed to relax, leaning his head on hers, and even giving the top of her head a kiss once.

Jeremie and Aelita walked back to the dorm together, hand-in-hand after the movie ended. He walked her back to her room.

"Thank you for a wonderful time," Aelita smiled, giving Jeremie a quick peck on the cheek. Jeremie pulled her close in a hug and kissed her forehead.

"Aelita…" Jeremie began, his face reddening once more, "I know that, well… I haven't really ever told you how I feel but… For what it's worth, I think you're amazing. And I never thought a girl as perfect as you would ever give me a second glance." He grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. "So, if you want… I'd be honored if you'd… be my, um… girlfriend," Jeremie offered, barely audible.

Aelita rested her hand on her cheek and pulled his face closer, and kissed him.

"Of course," she smiled, ecstatic.

Aelita's heart was beating out of her chest, and her mind was racing. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined that this night was going to turn out as well as it had… And it was only foreshadowing new and wonderful times to come.

A/N: Woooooooo!

**Look, I finished it!**

**In the previous version it kept going, but this is all of the story that I think it really needs to work on its own. Sooooooooo, that's all you're getting. ;P**

**Well, review please!**

**~Aechigo**


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